Pupils should make rich connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. They should also apply their mathematical knowledge to science and other subjects.

Teachers should use every relevant subject to develop pupils’ mathematical fluency. Confidence in numeracy and other mathematical skills is a precondition of success across the national curriculum.

Teachers should develop pupils’ numeracy and mathematical reasoning in all subjects so that they understand and appreciate the importance of mathematics.

– National Curriculum in England Framework Document, September 2013, p10

Connections within Mathematics

Making connections to other topics within this year group

• Connect work on Geometry with area and perimeter, e.g. calculate the area (by counting squares) and perimeter of given shapes.
• Connect work on Geometry with measuring and reading scales, e.g. using rulers and protractors to draw simple shapes accurately.
• Connect work on Geometry with co-ordinate positions in the first quadrant, e.g. plot given co-ordinate positions and connect the points – what polygon have you made?

Making connections to this topic in adjacent year groups

Year 3

• draw 2-D shapes and make 3-D shapes using modelling materials; recognise 3-D shapes in different orientations and describe them
• recognise angles as property of shape or a description of a turn
• identify right angles, recognise that two right angles make a half-turn, three make three quarters of a turn and four a complete turn; identify whether angles are greater than or less than a right angle
• identify horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular and parallel lines.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory):

Pupils’ knowledge of the properties of shapes is extended at this stage to symmetrical and non-symmetrical polygons and polyhedra. Pupils extend their use of the properties of shapes. They should be able to describe the properties of 2-D and 3-D shapes using accurate language, including lengths of lines and acute and obtuse for angles greater or lesser than a right angle.

Pupils connect decimals and rounding to drawing and measuring straight lines in centimetres, in a variety of contexts.

Year 5

• identify 3-D shapes, including cubes and other cuboids, from 2-D representations
• know angles are measured in degrees: estimate and compare acute, obtuse and reflex angles
• draw given angles, and measure them in degrees (o)
• identify:
  • angles at a point and one whole turn (total 360o)
  • angles at a point on a straight line and ½ a turn (total 180o)
  • other multiples of 90o
• use the properties of rectangles to deduce related facts and find missing lengths and angles
• distinguish between regular and irregular polygons based on reasoning about equal sides and angles.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory):

Pupils become accurate in drawing lines with a ruler to the nearest millimetre, and measuring with a protractor. They use conventional markings for parallel lines and right angles.

Pupils use the term diagonal and make conjectures about the angles formed between sides, and between diagonals and parallel sides, and other properties of quadrilaterals, for example using dynamic geometry ICT tools.

Pupils use angle sum facts and other properties to make deductions about missing angles and relate these to missing number problems.

Cross-curricular and real life connections

Learners will encounter geometry in:

• The world around them – e.g. symmetry on wrapping paper, tiles, letters and digits on labels.
• Design Technology – e.g. the use of different triangles in bridge building
• Physical Education – e.g. using symmetry to create dance sequences, gymnastic routines
• I.C.T – e.g. using programmable robots to create specific shapes or a symmetrical dance sequence.
• Art – The NCETM Primary Magazine ‘Art of Mathematics’, features has many different articles where works of art are used as a stimulus for shape work. E.g. Islamic Patterns